


Protocol 616

by epistretes



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: AU, BAMF May Parker (Spider-Man), Co-Parenting, F/M, Gen, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, joint custody
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-08-17 13:42:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16517573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/epistretes/pseuds/epistretes
Summary: AU: Tony Stark discovers that he has a child and he has to decide if he wants to go ahead and be part of their life or not.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I would first like to say that it is unlikely I will have a set schedule but I will update as often as I can, my life has been utterly jam-packed the last couple of years and I do want to go back and finish the series I left hanging now I have a little time to myself. This, though, is going to be my way of getting myself back into the writing frame of mind for both fic and for my other works. I am in a small gap between my last course and my next one and I also work full-time, so I hope to get this completed before I start my industry-specific masters next year. I have pre-written a few chapters already so that should help keep it as regular as possible.
> 
> This kind of wormed its way into my mind and I couldn't resist writing. Enough about me, on to the fic details!
> 
> This is a total AU. Iron Man happened, The Incredible Hulk happened (though I haven't seen it in _years_ so barely remember what happened, it will likely not play a huge part excepting to bring Banner into the fold) and the beginning of Iron Man II is where I start making (most) things go off-canon. Most of the plot is already thought out but the number of chapters will depend on how wordy I get.
> 
> For ease of dropping into the story without a huge prequel-type infodump, here are some basic beats:
> 
> • Thor happened before Iron Man II and he is on Earth, Jane Foster is not a love interest and he is looking for Loki whom he believes ended up on Earth when he fell, Odin sent him with the dark magic and the bifröst is still broken  
> • Captain America: The First Avenger happened before Iron Man II  
> • Nick Fury assembled the Avengers when Ivan Vanko popped up as he suspected a link between Vanko and Hammer (and wasn't sure if Tony'd survive the poisoning)  
> • Phil Coulson is alive and is running a sub-section of S.H.I.E.L.D., him and Hill being groomed to take over one day  
> • Stark/Avengers Tower is built in New York and about to be switched on  
> • Tony and Pepper have been a thing since Iron Man I end  
> • Peter Parker is the biological son of Tony Stark  
> • There is no Aunt May-erasure, she is very much a part of Peter's life  
> • J.A.R.V.I.S. is still around as Ultron has not been thought of yet

Tony Stark was in his element, while he was still bothered by the fiasco with Vanko and Hammer and the fall-out from his Stark Expo, things were going well, his tower was finished and they had just had the switching-on ceremony for the tower's power source with the newly created Avengers all present and accounted for and that pesky palladium poisoning gone from his system. It was a new day. 

"To our self-sustaining beacon of clean energy," he toasted, Pepper smiling from her seat on the sofa. "I would like to-"

A disembodied voice spoke from the ceiling and cut off the improvised speech Tony was about to make, ready with scotch in hand to toast to their victory and their foray into clean energy - marking the real turning point in his company's product as well as ideology and Tony frowned.

"Sir, I apologise for interrupting, but Protocol Six-One-Six has been activated." Tony's expression turned from a frown to a bewildered squint and he looked around in confusion, even Natalie Rushman - no, Natasha Romanoff - looked confused. A thrill of nervousness ripped from his throat and shot down his spine as he saw the worried and very comprehending expression on Pepper's face. In fact, she looked positively afraid, he had not seen that expression since the tarmac in Monaco.

"There _is_ no Protocol Six-One-Six, J.A.R.V.I.S." Tony attempted to regain control of the situation.

"This Protocol was established by one Obadiah Stane." Tony looked furious for a moment and he took a sip of his scotch to settle himself.

"I explicitly ordered that _every single one_ of Stane's protocols were to be wiped from existence." His voice was angry but controlled, _too_ controlled if the expression on Steve Rogers' face was any indicator.

"They were… except this one." Pepper told him, setting down her champagne flute, smoothing down her skirt and standing to look at the man she loved, even if their relationship was still relatively new, it was strong.

"Why?" He asked, voice icy.

"It was my decision," Pepper told him, "It has saved us considerable embarrassment as well as financial layouts above and beyond what it cost to maintain the protocol. I saw no need to erase it and reinstate it just because it was Stane who set it up, no matter how much I loathed the man."

"What could possibly be so important?" Tony asked, suddenly wishing the newly-assembled Avengers were not here to witness whatever this was, the long silence from Pepper excruciating.

"Mr. Stark, if I may…" J.A.R.V.I.S. started but Pepper seemingly found her voice.

"No, it is okay, I can tell him."

"Will _someone_ tell me?" Tony demanded.

"Protocol Six-One-Six was a kind of blood-monitoring protocol." Pepper told him.

"I don't need that, I barely drink compared to before and I got rid of the palladium poisoning my blood stream. Delete the protocol."

"I am afraid you cannot do that, Mr. Stark, only Ms. Potts can override this protocol."

"Bullshit, I _made_ you, override her block."

"TONY!" Pepper shouted to get his attention again. "It doesn't monitor just your blood. In fact, it doesn’t _monitor_ your blood at all, it compares it."

"To what?" He scoffed, annoyed at the comprehension he could see dawning in Romanoff's and Banner's eyes.

"To any whose blood is taken by a hospital and run through a matrix, when checking for blood type or similar. J.A.R.V.I.S. has access to those records and compares it to your own DNA sample if the sample is under a certain age. There has _never_ been a positive hit…until now."

"Wait… are you actually telling me…"

"It would seem J.A.R.V.I.S. has made a positive match. You are a father." Tony's glass hit the ground and shattered crystal and aged scotch went everywhere but he did not even notice.

"How… no. No, that's wrong."

"It is a 99.99% match, Sir, I did the test three times to be certain before activating the Procotol." J.A.R.V.I.S. shattered that wild hope that this was all a hoax.

"Do you have _any idea_ how many times false claims of paternity have come through to the company?" Pepper told him and Tony shook his head. "Five was the least in a year, over twenty the most. We were able to cut most off at the pass before they demanded money or went to the media because we already had the data from the protocol. Stane saw it as a way of protecting the company, but I wanted to keep _you_ protected. Which is why I kept it."

"It has to be wrong," Tony continued to deny as the others looked at each other in awkward confusion.

"Mr. Stark, you seem to have some trouble digesting this news, would you like to see your son?" J.A.R.V.I.S. asked and Tony started, Pepper sitting down and draining her drink as she started thinking through the problem.

"Son? It’s a … I have a boy?" Tony asked, snapping back from wherever his mind had gone.

"I have some CCTV footage, he left the hospital a short while ago with his guardians, if you would like to view it."

"Guardians?" That caught the attention of all.

"What about his parents?" Pepper asked, curiously. "Was he staying with someone?"

"His mother and step-father were killed in a plane crash when the boy was six, he lives under the care of his Aunt and Uncle in Queens." J.A.R.V.I.S. told them simply.

"Who was his mother?" Tony asked, distracted and J.A.R.V.I.S. threw up a picture of a pretty brunette who was leaning over a seemingly scientific experiment of some kind when her picture had been snapped, her smile lighting up her face at whatever she was looking at.

"Her name was-" J.A.R.V.I.S. got cut off by Tony himself.

"Mary Fitzpatrick." He breathed a little heavily, obviously recognising the woman, which surprised everyone including Pepper as they had not expected that reaction from Tony's infamous one-night-stand history with women.

"Perhaps we should retire for the night, allow Tony to let this sink in." Steve suggested, the others taking the cue and scarpering as fast as they could so that Tony could digest this news, Pepper included as she realised he needed some time to settle this in himself; DUM-E rolling in and starting to clean up the mess.

"I want to see him," Tony decided in that instant, eyes never having left the picture of this Mary Fitzpatrick who had borne him a son in secret and then died.

"Certainly, Sir." J.A.R.V.I.S. located the feed and Tony saw a wavy-haired young boy walking between a man and woman, who looked to be in their thirties as they left the New York Presbyterian Queens hospital, the boy looking tired but otherwise fine. Tony's eyes swept over him almost hungrily, feeling overwhelmed by this little being that was, apparently, his.

He was saying something, but Tony could not hear it as it was a visual feed only and his heart started to beat faster as the boy was joyfully swung up into his Uncle's arms, it suddenly skipped two beats as he saw in his hand a fake blaster and Iron Man helmet that jolted a memory into Tony.

"He is saying ' _and then Iron Man told me, 'nice work, kid' and flew off, it was_ awesome _Uncle Ben!_ " J.A.R.V.I.S. told him and Tony realised with a jolt that this kid - _his kid_ had almost died tonight at the Stark Expo and he would have never known of his existence. Tony had both endangered him and saved his life tonight.

His eyes were caught by the little plaster and cotton ball that covered where his blood would have been drawn and Tony fell heavily on the sofa as the feed ended with them leaving the range of the cameras.

"J.A.R.V.I.S. get me the feed from the suit, isolate the Expo exactly to the moments before I blasted a drone that was aiming for a child."

He watched as the footage appeared in front of him only a few moments later and he directed J.A.R.V.I.S. until he found what he wanted in the periphery. A drone was flying around, then spotted something on the ground and started to make a beeline for it. J.A.R.V.I.S.' recorded voice alerting Iron Man to the danger as Tony watched the feed, the man and woman from the other feed were running for the little boy but would not get there in time as he raised his gauntleted hand to the drone with not one ounce of fear. Iron Man blew it away from behind him, praised him and then flew off, immediately forgetting about the child as he went to do his superhero thing.

He saw just before the suit's monitoring feed lost them, the little boy being pulled into his Aunt's arms as she sobbed, her husband leading them away. He was not sure what must have happened to them after that, if anything, as they may have just taken him to the hospital to rule out damage but Tony knew now - he wanted to know this kid.

 _His_ kid.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., what is his name?" Tony's voice wavered and he wished for a drink, a _strong_ drink.

"Peter Benjamin Parker."


	2. 99.99% accuracy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony tries to come to terms with what Protocol 616 might mean for his life if he lets it in and he learns more about the Parker family.
> 
> \---
> 
> "You must hate me right now." Pepper smiled softly, put her StarkPad down and wrapped her arms around him.
> 
> "I never hate you, Tony. You just frustrate me sometimes. Or a lot."
> 
> "What did I do to deserve you?"
> 
> "No idea, but you have me. Always."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of the lovely kudos and comments on the last chapter, they really made my day! This chapter is dedicated to all of you.
> 
> I will be likely having a two-week gap as I am going on an anniversary-celebrating holiday with my partner back to where we got married, but there is very little wi-fi access, but you never do know. I do have a couple more chapters already written but I wanted to give the heads-up in case you don't see one until the end of the month. I will post as soon as I am back either way though!
> 
> Also, we will not be meeting ten-year old Peter until the next chapter, Tony has a little soul-searching to do first!
> 
> Lastly, some spoilers for Agent Carter, Seasons 1 & 2.

Tony spent the next few hours watching the feeds over and over again, memorising every trace of his son's face and drinking and he awoke on the sofa to the faces of Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff peering at him with concern.

"You might want to go brush your teeth before Pepper gets here," Natasha told him as he blinked awake, her pretty nose wrinkled in disgust.

"Right," Tony dragged his hand down his face and breathed deeply, letting the memories of the night before settle into his mind.

"I'll start breakfast," Steve decided as Tony pushed himself to his feet and rubbed his forehead to try to start the process of removing a hangover. He had just brushed his teeth and showered when Pepper pushed the bathroom door open. She looked immaculate, beautiful ... and irritated.

"Do you happen to remember drunkenly demanding J.A.R.V.I.S. file for adoption papers at precisely 4.32AM?" She asked, ice in her voice. Tony gulped as tugged at his towel a bit. 

"Luckily, I had told J.A.R.V.I.S. to ignore any commands from you if you were drinking last night." She sighed "Tony, if you want to be a part of this child's life, it has to come from a sober, rational decision. He is not an engineering design you can get bored of and scrap. If you enter his life, it is _for_ life."

"You must hate me right now." Pepper smiled softly, put her StarkPad down and wrapped her arms around him.

"I never hate you, Tony. You just frustrate me sometimes. Or a lot."

"What did I do to deserve you?"

"No idea, but you have me. Always." She let go and smiled, picking her pad back up. "I requested a second opinion and he is definitely your son. Think about what that means - and whatever you choose, I support you."

Tony watched her leave the room and ran his hands through his hair. Did he want this? His heart was screaming 'yes', his head was screaming 'no'.

His stomach then screamed for food and he dressed and found Steve in the kitchenette and he was eating what appeared to be his second plate of food.

"Yours is under the cover," the Captain told him kindly.

Tony lifted it and found bacon, sunny-side up eggs, sausages, mushrooms, fried tomatoes, baked beans and fried bread kept warm by the silver dome cover, with a glass of orange juice by the side. He felt something twist in his chest.

"Peggy always-" Steve started

"-swore by a Full English for a hangover." Tony finished and he looked at Steve, who blinked at him. Tony took the plate and glass to the table and sat opposite the man out of time.

"Aunt Peggy would make this with Jarvis - the original Jarvis - for my father when he had had a few too many and they needed him functional."

"Still seems crazy to me that Peggy would be an aunt figure to someone, still wrapping my mind around her having lived her own life." Steve admitted.

"She was very happy," Tony told him, he was still warming up to the idea of Steve being a living, breathing person. His father had ended up leaving a great distaste for Captain America in his son, but Peggy had softened the edges of his dislike, having grown up on stories from her about the war with more sadness and less obvious reverence for the man; which Tony imputed to stem from her interrupted love for him. "From what I gather, it took her some time to let you go, but she knew she could not live her life pining for you. Uncle Daniel made her happy, which I suppose can be somewhat attributed to you too, apparently you saved his life in the war or something."

Tony started to eat his food, pretending to not notice the Captain's eyes go a little misty and he sipped his juice to wash it down. Steve was a pretty good cook, it was almost as good as Aunt Peggy used to make it. Almost. 

He lost himself in thought, thinking of his father almost made the food sour, but thinking of Peggy prevented that. Would his son think of him the same way? The boy had an Aunt and Uncle already, did he love them the way Tony had loved Peggy and Daniel Sousa? He and his father had had a horrible relationship, but he had had his mother there with him - if Tony barrelled into Peter's life, there would be no mother to be the buffer should Tony mess up the way Howard had. What if he scarred the boy the way Howard had done for him?

He now knew that Howard had loved him, deep down in his horribly emotionally stunted way thanks to the video Fury had provided, but it was not enough to remove the bitter memories, only soothed them a little. Would he end up as emotionally constipated as his own old man?

Perhaps little Peter was better off not knowing him and believing Richard Parker had been his father in both blood as well as love?

"I can practically hear you thinking from here." Steve commented, pulling Tony from his thoughts as he closed the dishwasher on his breakfast things and Tony speared a sausage. "I think you need a walk or run or swim or whatever it is you do to get the blood pumping."

"Pepper isn't here." Tony snarked and Steve gave him an unimpressed face.

"Go for a walk, clear your head." Steve ordered.

"Is it just me or are you living in _my_ property?" Tony shot back. "Don't tell me what to do."

"Fine, do what you want, but you will regret it if you continue to cloud your mind with drink instead of clear it with fresh air." Steve told him seriously and headed for the door.

"Sometimes I want to punch you in your perfect teeth," Tony bit back.

"Go right ahead if it breaks you out of this funk." Steve replied, his hand on the door handle. "But you are a father now, what you want comes second to what he wants - you need to decide if you are really ready to be a Dad rather than just a Father."

Tony chomped on the sausage as Steve left, irrationally angry at the man. He did not hate him, but he did get under his skin somewhat. What did he know, anyway? Steve wasn't a father. As the thought surfaced, he thought of Peggy and immediately felt sick, pushing away his plate and leaving it for DUM-E. Steve had been robbed of that chance once, Tony should not squander his own chance.

He walked away from the food, grabbed a hoodie and went for a walk in the park. He kept his hood up and glasses on so that he would be left alone and he wandered idly for a while before he started to feel a little cold and he headed back to the Tower. Pepper was in her last meeting of the day, so he decided not to bother her and was about to let himself into the private penthouse he shared with her, but Natasha was standing in front of the door, a manila file in hand.

"Stark." She greeted simply and he looked up at her sharply, wondering what she was doing. "I have gathered information on Mary, Richard, Ben, May and Peter Parker. If you want it."

Tony looked at her and hesitated, how had she even discovered their names? He wanted to reach his hand out, to take the file and devour every detail, but he also felt like if he took that file and opened it, his decision would be made. He would want to involve himself and he was not yet sure if he was ready for that. He needed to weigh it up more, speak with Pepper and _think_ before taking such a huge, irreversible step.

"I didn't ask you to do that," He told her.

"No, you didn't, but you are stalling." Natasha replied, totally unruffled by the glare Tony was attempting to shoot her.

"I don't know if I want it," he admitted as it was clear she already knew that anyway.

"I will keep it and shred it by the end of the day if you do not want it." She told him and moved down the hall. Tony shocked himself when his arm shot out and his hand wrapped around her wrist. She looked up at him, he knew his face was pleading but scared. She smiled, placed the file in his hand and left for the communal area.

He looked at the file in his hands for so long, he did not even notice the sun setting outside the window until Pepper called to him.

"Tony? What are you doing?" She asked and he turned to face her.

"Romanoff found…" he gestured to the file and Pepper's eyes narrowed in comprehension.

"Information on the kid." She stated and he nodded. "The choice is up to you, but I think you need to eat dinner first." 

She opened the door to their private area and he followed her, still so thrown and confused by the events of the past day. Very little had ever thrown him for any length of time, but he was flip-flopping in his own mind so much about this. Was he even able to be a father to this boy? This child who was so young and needed so much? This boy who was fearless enough to stand up to a murderous Hammer drone?

He could hear Pepper ordering dinner past the background noise of his own brain trying to work through the problem. Was it even a problem? She said something but he didn't catch it, the sound of the shower a minute or so later clued him in as he sat on the sofa, the file sitting ominously on the coffee table. A child was not a problem, he could not think of it that way even if he chose to walk away from this revelation. No, the child only existed because of his and Mary's actions the night Peter had been conceived. He assumed the condom had failed as he had been unscrupulously careful even when utterly out of his mind on whatever he had imbibed on any given day, his otherwise lack of children given how many women he had slept with over the years testament to that, but it only took once.

Pepper's shower routine sounded like it was coming to a close, he could tell just by familiarity what stage she was at as she showered in the exact same way every time - unless he interrupted her - and he leaned forward, fingers grazing the file. With a flick of his wrist, it opened and the first page was a picture of Mary Fitzpatrick marrying Richard Parker. He had no idea where Romanoff might have found this, but she was not considered a super spy for nothing. He saw a date stamped on the marriage certificate below and realised this had happened merely three months after Mary had disappeared from his life, which explained the slightly loose dress but lack of visible bump.

He stared at it for a while, wondering if it would have been him standing next to her, smile beaming if she had not vanished. Before Pepper, she had been the only woman to make his heart stir as well as his loins. She had been a brilliant geneticist who was working for Stark Industries. It had been before Pepper had come to him with a brilliant insight and been promoted to his assistant, it had been before Afghanistan in a simpler time. She had stolen his attention, he had been trying to work on a project and she had had the gall to email him that he was wrong with an assessment of how his plans would work from a genetic standpoint. He had called her into his office and been transfixed by her passion, her knowledge and, to a lesser extent, her beauty. Normally that was the first thing he noticed about a woman, but this one had come at him with science first and femininity later. He smiled as he thought that had not been dissimilar to how Pepper had caught his attention - it seemed he had a type.

They had then set about modifying his blueprints and spent so many nights together in his private lab perfecting the technology. She had rebuffed any and all of his advances and kept it strictly professional from her side and he had, albeit grudgingly, accepted that. One night, she had come in and seemed like she was in great distress. She would not tell him what was wrong and as he slipped into memories of that night, the shower spray turned off.

She had been twitchy, more than a little on edge and when he had asked, she had brushed it off as some goon hitting on her on the bus and bothering her a bit. Tony did not doubt that it likely happened a lot, but he doubted her story this time, she was far too agitated for something like that. She had cursed when she had dropped a vial, luckily not holding anything caustic and he had dropped to a crouch with her to tidy up the mess and she had leaned forward and closed the distance between them. Kissing her had been heavenly, her lips were soft and full and held a passion he had only seen before in her work ethic. It had not taken long for papers on a side desk with no experiments atop it to be scattered to the floor and their passions took over completely.

They had then continued the party upstairs in his room and he had awoken to a sunshine-filled, but otherwise empty bedroom. He had called out for her, thinking that maybe she was in the bathroom or kitchen, but J.A.R.V.I.S. had replied.

"Miss Fitzpatrick has left the building, she wanted me to tell you that she has had a family emergency and had to go, she did not wish to wake you." Tony had been sad but taken it at face-value, family emergencies were always important.

A week later with no contact from her, when he was really starting to worry, an email landed in his inbox with her resignation. He had not been able to trace it even with J.A.R.V.I.S., it was completely plain and professional, said she would be leaving with immediate effect and that she waived all rights to her final pay as she had violated her contractual notice period. Tony had drunk half of a bottle of scotch by the time Rhodey had arrived at the mansion, summoned by a concerned J.A.R.V.I.S. and admitted drunkenly to his friend that he could possibly have loved the woman. He never spoke of her again after that until seeing her picture the day before.

Pepper appeared by his side in a whiff of fresh and clean scented shampoo and she sat beside him and he handed her the photograph.

"She moved on pretty quickly." Tony said, a slightly more hurt than snide tone to his voice that he was annoyed at, so much for covering up his pain even though Pepper would have seen through it anyway.

"Tony…" Pepper placed her hand on his and he took comfort from it, life might not have worked out as he had thought that night in the lab with Mary, but he had Pepper and he loved her with every fibre of his being.

"I can only assume that the state she was in and the 'family emergency' were connected. I wonder if that night was her way of saying goodbye."

"You can't know that for sure, for all we know, something might have happened that spooked her. It is possible, but there is little point dwelling on it now, ten years later." Tony reached for the next piece of paper in the file. It was a birth certificate.

"Peter Benjamin Parker, mother: Mary Parker, née Fitzpatrick, father:…" Tony paused "Richard Parker. She did not want me in my son's life." They both looked at the birth date, almost nine months to the day after Mary had last been in the Malibu mansion - just in case they needed more proof.

"Born in New York Presbyterian Queens hospital." Pepper read from the little piece of paper.

"I was probably at some party that night, drunk off my face with a pretty redhead on my arm." Tony's smile was twisted and it saddened Pepper to see it. "I remember steering clear of brunettes for a long time after Mary left."

The food arrived and Pepper went to get it, Tony picking up the next picture, it was of a very tired but ecstatic-looking Mary holding a very wrinkly baby. It looked like the first moment Peter would have been placed in her arms, still with a squashed face from his journey into the world and wrapped in a fluffy towel.

He laid it on the table followed by other pictures of Peter, of his son, at his first ever class picture, added to with school shots from every year following until now. He laid them all out side-by side as Pepper returned with the food. His boy, growing up without any knowledge of who his father truly was. He was clearly a sweet kid, he had a kind face and sported glasses in some of the pictures. He looked like a perfect mini-me of Mary, except he had Tony's lips.

"He might not look like you, but he clearly got his brains from both of his parents," Pepper remarked, handing him a class grade sheet and Tony figured Romanoff must have hacked school records to get these images and information and he was grateful to her for it. He took the piece of paper and smiled, the kid was a straight-A student, except in P.E. in which he just about scraped a passing grade.

His face fell when he picked up the next pieces of paper. Death certificates for both Mary and Richard Parker, reason of death listed as a plane crash and dated when Peter was only six. He put them down, not wanting to look at them right now, it was a little too raw to know Mary had died in such a horrifying way and he picked up the next piece of paper, which listed Benjamin and May Parker of Queens as Peter's legal guardians. The rest of the file were more grade sheets and Tony stood up, the food untouched and utterly forgotten.

"I want to be a part of his life. He is my son." He decided and he did not notice Pepper's slight frown, but she gave a verbal assent. "Get the paperwork set up? I … I need to know more." He walked away, heading for his lab, which he locked and sat himself at his table, picking up one of his gauntlets are starting to tinker with the code, looking to make two new Mark Types with greater defensive capabilities.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., make two new files on my private server."

"Certainly Sir, what would you like to name them?"

"I dunno. Iron Wife and Iron Kid," Tony shrugged, already lost in code.

"Sir, for your own protection should Ms. Potts see this - as I presume the first file is for her - I would suggest an alternative file name." Tony looked up, thinking that the AI was very right in his assessment.

"Ok... call her file..." He paused "Rescue, Mark One."

"Affirmative and the child?"

"Leave it as is for now, until I get to know him."


	3. I want to know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony looks to arrange visitation so that he can meet his son. As highly strung and emotional as he is right now, will he be in danger of upsetting or offending the Parkers?
> 
> \--
> 
> "Hey, Aunt May, you should see this crazy car parked outside, the bus driver was-" the young boy stopped mid-flow as he saw people he did not know in the open-plan living area. "Uh…"
> 
> "Hey Peter," May kissed his cheek and set his backpack aside, she brought him over and eyed Tony dangerously in warning. "We have some guests but they will be leaving shortly…"
> 
> "Aunt May, I think I need new glasses."
> 
> "Why, honey? Did you break them again?" She asked kindly.
> 
> "Because I think Tony Stark is sitting on our couch."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has left a kudos and/or comment, I got them when I landed this morning and was lovely to see after being awake for 24 hours straight on an extremely turbulent flight. Had a lovely two weeks off, back to work first thing tomorrow morning though, ugh.

Tony ended up falling asleep in front of his holo-screen with code flickering across it and jolted awake a few hours later with a sore neck. "What time is it?"

"Ten minutes past three A.M.," J.A.R.V.I.S. supplied.

"Ok, I'm going to bed, keep running the base code, I want the suits to be able to protect Pepper and the ki- and Peter," Tony swallowed "They will be on standby, if anything ever tries to hurt them like at the Expo."

"Of course, Sir." Tony found his way to bed and changed in the dark, cuddled up to Pepper, pressed a kiss to her cheek and slipped off into the first proper slumber since the news broke.

He awoke to the sound of J.A.R.V.I.S. announcing Rhodey's arrival at noon and he stumbled into the kitchen in his AC/DC top from the night before and a pair of pyjama bottoms that he did not remember putting on.

"If those are Pepper's, she will kill you," Was Rhodes' greeting and Tony shrugged, realising they _were_ Pepper's favourite rose-gold satin pyjamas and he grabbed a mug and poured out some coffee, the other man eyeing him with interest.

"If you can't even manage to get your own pyjamas on, how are you supposed to look after a kid?" Tony winced and then looked at his friend questioningly. "Pepper told me."

"Yeah, bit of a shock," Tony admitted, sipping more of the strong black coffee and hoping it woke him up properly soon enough.

"I think you may need to buy the world's best gift for that woman for putting up with your bullshit," Rhodes sighed as he popped his toast from the toaster and started to butter it. "She's already trying to set up contact with the Parkers to discuss developments at the same time as running press for the tower to keep your company in the black."

The woman herself came in at that moment.

"We have secured a meeting with the Parkers in one hour. They did not want to come here, we are to go to them in Queens. All they know is that some information has been discovered about Richard and Mary and that we are going to brief them. I did not want to give such information over the phone. Are those my pyjamas?"

Tony nodded but waved off her last question, finished his coffee and headed for the shower while Rhodes ate, he sorted himself out and put on a proper suit and cleaned himself up to his usual immaculate for-the-press standards.

They got into the car with Happy at the wheel and soon, the Upper East Side was behind them and Tony tried to focus on what he was going to say, what he wanted out of this. Pepper was holding the information as she was worried he would fiddle with it in his agitation. After what seemed like an excruciatingly long time, but really was hardly any at all, they pulled up outside a nondescript apartment block in Queens. Where _his son_ lived.

Tony had to breathe to a count for a long moment to set himself for this, Happy secured the car and the three of them headed for the seventh floor. Pepper knocked on the door and it was opened by a surprisingly attractive woman, standing beside her was presumably her husband.

"Ms. Potts?" The woman asked, curiously.

"Are you May Parker?" Pepper asked and she nodded.

"I'm sorry, I didn’t think you would be coming yourself. Uh, come in." May opened the door wider to admit the three, both Parkers looking confused and bewildered at the entrance of such famous people into their tiny apartment.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Parker," Pepper started.

"Call my May, and this is my husband, Ben."

"A pleasure to meet you, May, Ben," she shook their hands as she introduced herself. "I'm Pepper, this is Tony and that is Happy."

A distracted pleasantry or two was offered, May reached for a seemingly home-made cake, but her husband stopped her and set out some store-bought biscuits hurriedly instead, which they found a little odd but did not question. They sat on the sofa and the Parkers stared at their guests in confusion.

"So…" May broke the ice. "You wanted to tell us something about Richard and Mary?"

"Yes, it is quite delicate, but we have come across some information that you may or may not be aware of…" Pepper started, and she hoped she did not crush these two with the news.

"What could it possibly be? They died four years ago, was it not an accident or something?" Ben asked, seemingly finding his voice and Tony looked at him curiously at that, a seed planted in his mind at such a comment.

"It has come to our attention that there was a discrepancy in the sample of blood that was taken from your nephew at the hospital…" Pepper began and Ben looked confused, but May did not.

"You know that Peter is not Richard's son, don't you?" May asked, calmly, almost too calmly and it reminded Pepper forcibly of Tony the other night. All heads snapped up at this comment, Ben looking at his wife in sheer confusion.

"What?"

"Mary told me, we were out one night about two years before they passed. We were having dinner and drinks and Mary…" May patted her husband's hand. "She admitted to me in tears that Richard was not Peter's father. He knew, Ben. He didn't care. It was why they married as quickly as they did, to cover it up and make it appear that Richard was Peter's father."

"Why would Rich agree to that?" Ben asked, bewildered. 

"Because he loved her and he loved Peter when he came along," May reminded him and she turned back to the guests in her flat. "Mary and Richard had been on-again-off-again for years and been friends for longer than that. I don't know any more specifics, but something about their jobs meant they were away a lot and forced to be apart, which took a toll on their relationship. When Mary discovered she was pregnant, they decided to make a go of being a family."

"We used to look after Peter whenever they had to go out of town." Ben added.

"They never did tell me who it was," May finished. "But that might explain why your sample showed whatever it did."

"Why did you even have our nephew's sample?" Ben asked, suspicion narrowing his eyes.

"Stark Industries has a protocol that monitors…" Pepper began.

"Because I am his father." Tony interrupted his girlfriend and all four others in the room stared at him. "I had a relationship with Mary Fitzpatrick eleven years ago, but then one day she just disappeared and I never heard from her again, I only just found out myself about our son."

"Are you here to take away my boy?" May asked, all friendliness gone from her expression and tone. 

"No." Stated Pepper firmly, just as Tony stated the opposite just as firmly, his eyes glued to a picture on the wall of Peter gleefully building a Lego set with another child.

"You can't have him. For one objection, Peter has no idea who you are outside of Iron Man, I don't care what your DNA test said. Two, Mary wanted _Richard_ to be his father, his name is on the birth certificate. Three, your lifestyle is not suitable to have a child, it would endanger him. No." The room was silent for a moment and as Tony opened his mouth to argue, his eyes back on the woman, Ben Parker beat him to it.

"This has been a shock I'll admit, but though Peter may have no Parker blood, he is a Parker in his heart - I don't care that he is not blood related to me - I am his Uncle and he is my nephew and we are his legal guardians."

"My lawyers can-" Tony started, but Pepper shook her head as May cut him off angrily.

"You can probably get some hot-shot lawyer team to steamroller our nephew from us, but I am telling you here and now, _Stark_ , we will not go down without a fight. We can’t afford great lawyers but we are his legal guardians and that does give us some rights."

"Please, everybody calm down. Tony, I know you want to know your son but this is not the right way. Mr. and Mrs. Parker, we are not here to take Peter from you, we actually came to negotiate visitation." The rationality and politeness of Pepper seemed to cool the air in the room a little and then a key was heard in the lock, making them all jump, May springing to her feet.

"The time!" She gasped.

"The school bus!" Ben added and they heard the door open and keys jangling as May rushed to the door.

"Hey, Aunt May, you should see this crazy car parked outside, the bus driver was-" the young boy stopped mid-flow as he saw people he did not know in the open-plan living area. "Uh…"

"Hey Peter," May kissed his cheek and set his backpack aside, she brought him over and eyed Tony dangerously in warning. "We have some guests but they will be leaving shortly…"

"Aunt May, I think I need new glasses."

"Why, honey? Did you break them again?" She asked kindly.

"Because I think Tony Stark is sitting on our couch." He replied, taking off his glasses, rubbing his eyes and replacing his spectacles.

"Hello. You must be Peter. My name is Pepper, nice to meet you." Pepper stood and offered her hand to the ten-year old.

"N-nice to meet you," he stammered and Tony's heart constricted as _his child_ shook Pepper's hand politely. Here was definitive proof that he had a real-life, breathing son. He was the image of Mary and he was stood no more than four feet from him, looking excited but confused.

"I'm Happy Hogan," the other man stated also offering his hand, Tony knew it was to cover the awkward moment.

"Peter. Parker." The kid was polite and Tony wanted to scream that was not his name but resisted the urge and got a grip on himself, standing, removing his sunglasses and offering a hand to the boy.

"As you rightly guessed, I am Tony Stark. Nice to meet you, kid. Your Aunt and Uncle have been telling me about you."

"Wow." He looked overjoyed and Tony's whole arm tingled as Peter took his hand and shook it enthusiastically. "Its so nice to meet you, Mr. Stark, but... uh... why are you here?"

The adults in the room froze for a moment, the awkward vibe not noticed by the overawed child and Tony quickly came up with an excuse. He saw now he was being foolish earlier, this boy was still so young, his fresh face lit up and his innocent eyes full of wonder. He could not take him from everything he had ever known just because Tony wanted it, the kid looked happy and healthy here. That was the most important thing.

"I wanted to thank you in person for being so brave and standing up to that Hammer drone, you are a real hero, kid." May let out a relieved sigh that she covered by offering more refreshments as Peter's eyes sparkled.

"Peter, honey, help me in the kitchen? Wash your hands first." Peter ran off to do so and May whirled on Tony. "What was that?"

"You were right, I got a bit emotional earlier. I do want to know him though now I know of his existence, perhaps we can arrange visitation?" Tony offered in supplication.

"We can probably arrange that." May agreed though she was clearly still irritated, Peter coming out of the bathroom and the woman lead him into the kitchen. 

"Don't tell him yet though," Ben added, quiet enough for Peter to not hear but the adults in the living room did. "Let him lead where this goes. Iron Man is his hero, finding out exactly who you are to him might be too much to take in at once. He loved my little brother dearly."

"Agreed." Tony nodded and Pepper smiled.

May and Peter came out with sliced walnut date loaf, biscuits and drinks on a tray. She put them out and Peter tried to steer the cake loaf away but the guests grabbed a piece each. Too late, they saw Peter shaking his head furiously at them behind his aunt. They noticed that the two men of the house had grabbed for the store-bought fare and May was looking at them expectantly. They bit. It was awful. With great effort at not grimacing, the three chewed and swallowed. Peter somehow looked both mortified and amused at the same time.

"I was hoping to maybe get a picture with the hero of the hour?" Tony phrased it as a question, he did not want to overstep his bounds now they seemed to be mostly on the same page and it gave him an excuse to not eat any more of the horrible attempt at food.

"Okay," Ben agreed, clearly thinking it harmless enough though his wife's lips were still pursed. Peter looked as though all of his birthdays had come at once along with Christmas and he bounded over to Tony, who felt a thrill go through him as Peter nestled in to his side, handing his cheap and cracked phone to his uncle as Pepper stood to take her own picture. They got three each, one with peace signs, one with simple smiling as both were clearly delighted in the moment and one with Peter's eyes closed as he blinked at just the wrong moment. 

"I think maybe it is time for that meeting you had after this," May stated pointedly and Peter looked crestfallen, but Tony knew though the moment was fleeting, he had overstayed his welcome with the overwhelmed guardians. It was far too short, he wanted longer but Pepper looked to be in agreement. 

"One last thing before I go, Peter," Tony said, a lightbulb moment happening. "Your Aunt and Uncle tell me you are very bright and interested in science."

"I love it, Mr. Stark, Sir. I want to be a scientist when I grow up, like my Mum and Dad!" The child did not notice the stiffness that crept into the smiles around him, so excited he was. His Aunt and Uncle narrowed their eyes, realising Stark had been researching their boy behind their backs and they likely could not do anything to stop it.

"Well, you are very young, but we do offer internships and scholarships for bright young minds, so when you are a little older, we can maybe talk about getting you one at Stark Industries." There, in the somehow-widening smile that was already most of his son's little face, he knew he had planted an idea. Peter would nag at his Aunt and Uncle in the hope of getting it, even if they tried to cut him out quietly, the possibilities of working at such a renowned company would be in his mind and Peter would be unlikely to let it go.

"Really? For me?" Peter was almost beside himself and Tony had to resist the urge to hug him right then and there, he was far too adorable - and his excitement reminded him forcibly of Mary.

"We should go, thank you for your hospitality." Pepper said to May and Ben hoping that Tony would not go even more off script here, still holding her evidence that they had not ended up needing in the end thanks to May's prior knowledge.

"It was so great to meet you all," Peter told them politely. 

"You too, Peter." Tony told him as Happy and Pepper echoed the sentiments and May handed them some more loaf cake in a Tupperware dish which Pepper accepted with a delight she definitely did not feel and Tony caught Ben and Peter exchanging an amused look. They got to the door and Tony failed at his resistance check and he dropped to a crouch.

"Mind if I get a hug goodbye?" He asked and Peter managed to both nod and fling himself at his hero in the same movement. Tony hugged him tight, savouring the moment and his eyes filled with tears the other adults saw and May relaxed her disapproving expression a little. Peter pulled back first and Tony slipped his sunglasses on so the kid would not see how affected he had been as he used his other hand to ruffle the boy's hair. "See you around, kid."

They made it halfway down the hall when they heard the door creaking shut as a child's voice piped up.

"Oh my gosh, Aunt May! I can't wait to tell Ned, he's never going t-" the door closed and they heard no more.

"You okay?" Pepper asked Tony as Happy pressed the button on the lift to take them back down to the car. For once, he was lost for words and he simply took her hand and squeezed.

She squeezed back.


	4. Visitation begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two continued poking around the lab, Peter's eyes going almost comically wide as he showed him a proper Iron Man suit - unlike the ones on show downstairs and available for the public to gawp over for the low entry fee of $10 - this one was fully functional.
> 
> "It is amazing, Mr. Stark." Peter fanboyed excitedly and Tony beamed with pride.
> 
> "I take it Iron Man is your favourite Avenger?" Tony asked, only to be deflated momentarily at his son's response.
> 
> "Nah, that’s Captain America." Peter then grinned up at Tony. "Only kidding."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So glad I got a few chapters ahead as I've had to agree to extra days in another department to help with the holiday season rush and I've had a raging cold so not got anything new written this week! Always the way, go on holiday and end up with a cold upon return just to remind you that you are back in the real world! Hope everyone is having a good week!

It had taken two weeks to set the visitation up the way the Parkers were happy with and another week before they would allow Peter to come along. They said it was to make sure Tony still wanted it after a bit of a wait in case 'the novelty wore off' and also so that Peter wouldn't get too overwhelmed or some such nonsense. 

Tony thought he was great with the kid already, what could possibly be overwhelming about being singled out by a world-renowned hero and invited to their infamous Stark Tower for a visit? Okay, he knew he was being overdramatic but the last three weeks had chafed at him incessantly. The kid had charmed him so utterly in their short and unexpected interaction.

The other Avengers had seemed delighted that Tony was happy and had even agreed to scarper for the day to allow Tony to get to know his son without having all of the Avengers peering in at him, though they had all demanded to get to meet him at some point in the not-too-distant future. Tony had agreed and then took Natasha aside for some digging. He had told her about the idea Ben had put in his mind and she nodded, solemnly.

"It had every chance of just being an accident, but a nose around couldn't hurt." She had agreed and he had not seen her since, nor Clint as they had headed back to S.H.I.E.L.D., though Clint was often disappearing off on his own for a few days at a time on some sort of covert operation.

The Parkers had originally been wholly against the idea of taking Peter to the tower at first, but agreed when Pepper had pointed out that it would attract far less attention than Tony Stark being seen out and about in the city with a small boy. The boy himself had only been allowed to tell his friend, Ned, about meeting Iron Man and while he had apparently wanted to shout it from the rooftops, he had complied and even managed to convince Ned to keep quiet. The bottom two floors of the tower were given over as a museum-type display which was full of things from the Expo that had been featured over the past year so it was not unusual to see families visiting, it was pretty much the perfect cover.

He had been forced to agree to not take Peter into the lab unless supervised at all times. His girlfriend had laid on a nice luncheon at a local restaurant and box seats for a matinee Broadway show for the Parkers and Pepper had assured them that Tony would be supervised at all times by Happy and J.A.R.V.I.S.

It felt like a lot of hoops to jump through, but Tony was starting to understand the implications of having children around. J.A.R.V.I.S. had been given some new programming to ensure the child stayed safe, Pepper had helped Tony childproof the place as much as a ten-year old needed, getting any medication, recreational or otherwise, including his alcohol collection locked securely away; anything of an adult nature was well hidden and random bits of kit, some with sharp edges, had been moved back into the lab with a ban on tinkering with anything outside of those confines.

The morning dawned and Tony had been too excited to sleep at first, he ended up going down to the gym without anyone forcing him to, usually Steve, and he worked out until his body was tired enough to override his brain and force him into slumber. When he awake, he had a brisk shower, a decent breakfast and washed it all down with a strong coffee.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., how long until Peter gets here?" He asked, restless already.

"Three hours, Sir." The AI told him and, figuring he would be a liability up here alone for all that time, he went to the lab and tinkered a bit more with the code for Rescue and a miniature version for Peter. He was starting to make a bit of headway with it, he wanted to give the suits some offensive capabilities, but they were mostly defensive - and fast. He wanted the suits to be able to encase his little family and whisk them away to safety if the need ever arose. His heart beat too fast at the thought of Peter facing down that drone and he had woken a couple of times in a cold sweat as he relived it, but this time, he didn't make it in time and saw Peter's broken little body in front of him, working on the suit significantly helped him get through those nights and everything was replicated in Pepper's suit should she ever need it. He could not be too careful when it came to the safety of these two.

"Sir, the Parkers will be arriving in half an hour," J.A.R.V.I.S. told him and Tony left the code running again, but set down his tools and packed everything away before heading back up to his suite and changing into a clean Aerosmith top and washing his hands and face. Satisfied, he went down to the lobby where Pepper was waiting with Happy. His bodyguard walked over to the guard booth when Tony got to his station beside Pepper.

"You ready?" She asked and he nodded, almost beside himself with nerves. "You'll be fine. Whenever you've not been in the lab, you've been reading up on parenting books. You are as prepared as you can be."

He looked up as the Parkers walked into the lobby and stopped at the security desk. The guard handed them their passes and they stepped through the metal detectors, Happy taking something from May, and into the main lobby area and the trio walked over to the family.

"I'm so glad you could make it," Pepper greeted them. "One of our drivers will be taking you to the restaurant and bring you back at round 6?"

"That was the plan," Ben agreed and Pepper nodded in satisfaction. 

"You ready to see the exhibit?" Tony asked Peter kindly, the child was looking around in wonder.

"Yeah!" His piping prepubescent voice full of excitement.

"Behave yourself," May reminded him and he gave her a big hug, bouncing on his toes as he then embraced his uncle.

"I will. You sure you don't want to see it with me?" He asked them.

"No, its okay, you have fun, champ." Ben told him, letting go and his aunt and uncle walked away to where their driver was waiting for them and headed off for their own treat. Happy handed whatever it was he had taken from May to Pepper and said something to her before she left them alone, Tony barely noticing as he was so consumed with watching his son look around the exhibition like he was in Disneyland.

"What do you want to see first?" he asked and Peter pointed excitedly to the glass casing holding Tony's very first arc reactor, set beside what had been recovered of his first suit.

"Is it true this tower is powered by a huge reactor?" Peter asked as he bounded towards it, Tony behind him looking amused and fond.

"Yes, we only turned it on a few weeks ago, but Stark Tower is completely off the New York grid, self-sustaining and clean. We are working on designing another one that we can use to give power out to the city as well at some point, but something that big is a few years off at best." Tony told him, noticing that Peter seemed far more interested in the reactor than in the actual original Iron Man suit, the other kids present all gathered around one of the suit exhibits.

Peter babbled quite a few questions at him, all of which were really quite astute and showed off both his innate and learned science knowledge. Tony answered every one, seeing Peter file away the tidbits of information carefully in his mind, his grades were clearly well earned.

One kid, however, tore his eyes away from the glossy red-and-gold Iron Man suit (now wholly deactivated and stripped to the shell) on display and clocked that it was the man himself standing there. The sudden noise and clamour made Peter jump and Tony whispered to Happy quickly to take the kid upstairs. He saw Happy steer Peter away, whispering something to him as they reached the private elevator, Tony doing his best to sign autographs and distract anyone present from looking too closely at the kid Tony was personally escorting.

Ten minutes later, he had shaken them off and retreated to his private elevator, J.A.R.V.I.S. closing the doors securely behind him and whisking him up to the penthouse. When he entered his own quarters, he found Peter happily sitting on the plush sofa and munching popcorn, watching some cartoon on Tony's cinema-sized screen. Happy was watching from the kitchen and drinking a coffee.

"Kids fine, but that cartoon is just awful," he moaned. Tony smirked at him and went to sit beside the kid.

"Sorry about that, kid," He apologised, Peter beamed up at him and offered him some of his popcorn.

"Its okay, Happy brought me here and let me watch Spongebob. This TV is bigger than my whole _room_." It made Tony's heart twist at the thought that this would have been the norm for Peter had Tony known of him, watched him grow - but then, perhaps it was for the best. Peter was so sweet, that he could tell already and Tony himself had not exactly been so at the same age. Howard's influence already giving him a sass mouth and an attitude. Would Tony have ended up perpetuating the cycle of shame? It still hurt, though.

He forced his brain to shut up and enjoy the moment, grabbing some of the popcorn and settling in for the end of the episode. He was not as enamoured of it as Peter appeared to be, but it wasn't as bad as Happy had made out.

"Say," Tony said as the popcorn supply ended with the episode "as we can't go back downstairs, wanna come see my lab?"

"Can I?" Peter's head whipped around so fast Tony was momentarily scared he had wrenched it. "Really?"

"Yeah - Happy? We're going to the lab. Kid, you'll need to leave your camera behind, though." Tony called out, the TV being turned off automatically by the AI as they stood up and the three headed for the other elevator - Tony's private lab was only accessible from this floor, further restricting his prized schematics from even those with near-full access. Only Tony, Pepper, Happy and the Avengers had access to it - and now Peter did as well.

"Woah…" Peter breathed out and he looked around as the lab opened up to him. His whole face lit up and his eyes sparkled with interest.

"Come in," Tony led them inside, Happy keeping a respectful distance behind them and letting them have some time while fulfilling his remit.

"Mr. Stark?" Peter looked up at him, having been quiet for a long moment, eyes roving around the space.

""Yeah, kid?"

"Why am I here?" He asked, looking up at the man with confusion and curiosity.

"What do you mean? I've wanted to get to know you ever since I heard of you, Peter," Tony admitted truthfully but adhering to Ben Parker's request to not divulge their biological relationship "and you impressed me. I don't let just anyone have access to this lab, you know."

"I know, just - I'm just a nobody from Queens." Peter said, still looking confused. "Why would you want to-"

"Kid, listen to me." Tony dropped to a crouch and set a hand on Peter's shoulder, looking directly into his eyes from his own level "That means nothing - _nothing_ at all. Never let anyone ever tell you otherwise. Look at Pepper, she started as a 'nobody' in the secretarial pool and now she is the CEO of Stark Industries because she showed me how special she really was. You are like Pepper - it doesn't matter where you come from, but that you can do what needs to be done - but even more important than that - that you _care_ about other people." Tony's heart thumped wildly as he looked at his son, who nodded and seemed to be taking in what he was saying. Was this parenting? Did he do it right? Happy was looking across approvingly, so maybe he had successfully parented for the first time.

"Okay." Peter said after another long moment as he digested that explanation.

"What do you say I show you what I've been working on for my next suit?"

"Yeah!" Peter seemed excited again by the idea and Tony was more than happy to show him the plans for the Mark VII he was developing. He was pointing out bits of code and Peter admitted that he was not as good as his friend, Ned, with such things but he was definitely interested in the design and engineering side of things.

"Mr. Stark?" He asked and Tony looked over at him, realising that Peter was staring at the holo-screens intently. "I think there is a problem with your maths, here."

"Where, kid?" He had only been off with his mathematics once - when Pepper had made herself known to him.

"The first screen is about a quarter higher than the second screen, which is about half of the second screen…" 

"Good eye, the maths is not incorrect, I am working on a couple of different ideas that need different sizes." Tony ignored the sharp look from Happy as the man looked up from his phone at that comment.

"Are you designing a giant suit?" Peter asked, breathlessly.

"Actually no - but you have given me a great idea, kid. J.A.R.V.I.S., make a file on my private server for a larger suit."

"Certainly, Sir. What would you like to name it?"

"Veronica." Tony decided after a thought and he grinned at Peter. "Kid, you may have just saved the world with that idea." Peter beamed at him.

"Why Veronica?" He asked, interested.

"Because Veronica is the opposite of Betty." Tony answered cryptically and watched in amusement as Peter frowned, not getting the reference. The two continued poking around the lab, Peter's eyes going almost comically wide as he showed him a proper Iron Man suit - unlike the ones on show downstairs and available for the public to gawp over for the low entry fee of $10 - this one was fully functional.

"It is amazing, Mr. Stark." Peter fanboyed excitedly and Tony beamed with pride.

"I take it Iron Man is your favourite Avenger?" Tony asked, only to be deflated momentarily at his son's response.

"Nah, that’s Captain America." Peter then grinned up at Tony. "Only kidding."

"Good."

"Maybe." Tony enjoyed the sass and was about to reply when J.A.R.V.I.S. interrupted.

"The Parkers are on their way and will be at the Tower in ETA five minutes, Sir." Peter looked sad that their time was to be cut short and Tony felt the same way. This kid had utterly and completely charmed him, his excitability so reminiscent of his mother, his brains clearly gleaned from them both and his sweet innocence shining so brightly. Tony wondered how such a being could have come from him.

"Thank you for today, Mr. Stark," Peter said politely as they left the lab behind and grabbed Peter's phone before getting back in the elevator to return to the lobby. "I really enjoyed myself."

"Any time, kid. I enjoyed it too, maybe we can make this a semi-regular thing?" He wanted it to be a completely regular thing, already wanting to convert his second rec room into a bedroom for the boy, but he still had hoops to jump through first, so he would.

"Really?" Peter asked, in wonder.

"Sure, we'll talk to your aunt and uncle about setting it up. Maybe you can bring your friend to see the exhibit some time, too." He was kind of interested to meet this kid his son raved about almost incessantly, glad he had a friend like that. Tony had only got a friend like that when he met Rhodes, this was good. The doors opened and the lobby was emptying out for the end of the work day and closure of the exhibit. May and Ben arrived and Peter trotted over to them, beaming and bursting to tell them all about his day.

"Thank you for letting him come, today," Tony said to them as Pepper exited the elevator to her office and walked over to them, something in hand.

"No problem, thank you for the day out," May replied, Ben nodding beside her.

"Of course," Pepper smiled politely and handed over what appeared to be the empty Tupperware. "Thank you for the cake, I wanted to return your dish."

May took it and after some more pleasantries, Tony unable to hug the boy with the last stragglers leaving as he would attract too much attention - wishing he had made this all an hour later (though it would have blown their cover) - May turned to him with a smile and an air of just remembering something, though her expression said otherwise.

"Oh and enjoy your evening, Mr. Stark." He looked confused but thanked her and Pepper squeezed his hand. They watched as Peter waved at the doors and was apparently in full flow telling his aunt and uncle the minutia of his day.

"Lets go," she said, Happy nodding to them both and clocking off for the day as they couple made their way to the penthouse. Tony moved to flop on the sofa with her, but she went to the cabinet and pulled something out, Tony suddenly recognising it as the box May had come in with that morning.

"Please tell me that isn't more home cooking," he grimaced.

"Thankfully, no." His girlfriend handed it to him "I have some work to finish up, plus I think you should have this by yourself." 

Tony frowned in confusion, but Pepper simply kissed him gently and walked away, heels clacking until she reached the elevator and was gone. He looked down at the box and saw a little hand-written note.

_You have been as good as your word, so far, Stark. Think of this as a step forward by taking a step back. - May_

He opened it up and found a set of DVDs with a stamp from a Queens company that converted VHS to DVD. His heart leaped as he read the first descriptor.

_Peter's homecoming, August 10th 2001_

His breath hitched and he quickly rifled through the following discs, many of Peter's childhood milestones were in there. He would not ever be able to experience them in person, but May had, despite her apparent distaste for him, allowed him the next best thing.

As he put the first disc in, he was actually glad Pepper had absented herself, she must have known what was on these and knowing him so well, chosen to let him view it by himself. He knew he would make her sit through them with him again, possibly even later that evening - but as the tears streamed down his face as he watched a shaky cam home video of his son's first day, having been cleared by the doctors to go home and watched him enter the little duplex that would be his first home - he was able to fill in some of the gaps.


	5. The Avengers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets to (briefly) meet the Avengers and a decision is made on when to tell Peter about his true parentage.
> 
> \----
> 
> "Hi guys, glad you are all here. I want you to meet someone." Tony said, pride flooding his voice. They all knew Peter was his son even if Peter did not and he was so very proud of the boy and also quite anxious that they all liked him. "This is Peter and he has been coming to the Tower every couple of weeks to help me out in the lab."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Normally I link this from my Tumblr, but I have abandoned my Tumblr due to the nonsense going on. I am just awaiting my Pillowfort invitation, when it is all set up, I will be more than happy to chat to any of you there. I will link it when I have it.

Tony had been enjoying time spent with Peter once a fortnight for the past three months now at the Tower and the elder Parkers had warmed to the man significantly since their initial meeting. He was not top of their invitation list for a dinner party, but they accepted him and allowed him to be a part of Peter's life.  
   
This, though, was almost as awkward a meeting as their first as Ben and May Parker sat in their conference room which was where they were hashing out whether to tell Peter the truth of his paternity and when with one of Tony’s lawyers present, who was sworn to secrecy about the whole thing.  
   
"I agree that he needs to be told at some point, he will only resent all of us if we keep it from him. He is a smart boy, he will find out some time." Ben stated, “But I also believe that day is not now, he needs to be _completely_ comfortable with you first before dropping a bombshell like that.”  
   
“I concur,” Pepper stated, looking at Tony meaningfully.  
   
“I don’t want to wait, but I will.” Tony looked over at the lawyer who was with them “Murdock, get that on the record.”

“Tony.” Pepper warned but he just flashed her his best I-don’t-care smile, he was going to get his way at some point, might as well be prickly until he got it.  
   
“We are serious, Stark.” May told him “If he finds out before he is ready to, this could really mess with his head. You promised to let him lead this, remember?”  
   
“Which is the only reason I haven’t told him already.” Tony retorted.

“I think if we make an agreement as to a date, we can work towards settling it in his mind a little so that when we tell him it won't be so much of a shock," Ben mediated as the room was starting to ramp up in tension again - as it often did when Tony and May were in the same room and discussing Peter. "Lay the groundwork."

"I agree." Pepper added, she and Ben usually came to agreement far more quickly than their respective partners did, neither quite so fiery as their loved ones unless pushed. "We can prepare him subtly so that when we reach the date, he is not as shocked by the news. We have to remember he may be very upset with finding out Richard was not his father as much as he will be surprised that Tony _is_."

"Exactly." May agreed. "He loved Richard dearly though his memories are few and fuzzy considering how young he was when they passed, it will be jarring for him to find out the truth. I know he likes you, Tony, but liking someone is not the same as them suddenly becoming an authority figure."

In the end, with a few more minor disagreements, it was decided that the end of January would be the best time to tell him. The excitement of the festive season and new year will have worn off and Peter will have known Tony personally for five months outside of his hero-worship of the man. It was deemed the soonest they could tell him without dragging on the concealment any longer than necessary.

"One last thing," Tony told them as they made to wrap up and leave. "The Avengers have wanted to meet Peter for some time. They will all be in the Tower this coming Saturday, so I'm going to introduce them to him."

"I'm sure he will love it," Ben assured the man as May pursed her lips, but did not say anything when Ben gently touched her arm and they left the lawyer's office, having signed the legal paperwork binding them all to the date agreed.

Peter had been so excited when he had been told he would be meeting the Avengers on today's trip to see Tony, May not willing to send him off with no idea what was awaiting him and she had hugged him slightly longer than usual and sent him off with a kiss with Happy Hogan when he had arrived to take the boy to the Tower. 

Peter had kept up a steady stream of questions to Happy the whole way there and the driver was more than content to consign him over to Tony's care the instant they arrived at the Tower, muttering under his breath about going to look for some paracetamol for his budding headache. Tony smirked at Happy's retreating back and gave Peter a wink.

"Ready to meet some of my friends?" Tony asked and Peter bounced on his toes so hard he actually left the floor at one point. 

"Yeah! Uncle Ben asked me to get Captain America's autograph if I can," Peter said seriously and holding up a poster tube, Tony giving a genuine laugh as they entered the private lift.

"He strikes me as a Cap fan." Tony admitted and Peter smiled at him with such simple joy and innocence, it seemed like he could outshine the very sun itself.

"Uncle Ben was military, I think they all admire Captain America." He said seriously.

"I would think that is probably true." The doors opened and Peter stepped out behind Tony into a now familiar room, but with some unfamiliar people inside it. He knew every one of them by sight, probably as many facts as they knew about themselves and yet here they stood in front of him - as real people. He was clearly awestruck as he looked around at them and Tony had to chivvy him forward to make the introductions.

"Hi guys, glad you are all here. I want you to meet someone." Tony said, pride flooding his voice. They all knew Peter was his son even if Peter did not and he was so very proud of the boy and also quite anxious that they all liked him. "This is Peter and he has been coming to the Tower every couple of weeks to help me out in the lab."

"A pleasure to meet you, Peter." The Captain stepped forward and smiled, offering a hand, which Peter took and shook enthusiastically. 

"You're Captain America." He breathed, delight in every inch of his features. "I'm a big fan. My Uncle Ben, too."

"His Uncle Ben is ex-military." Tony clarified and the big man smiled broadly.

"Then I think I would like to meet your Uncle Ben some day - and please, call me Steve." Tony was sure the super soldier had just made Peter's year by saying that judging by his expression and sudden realisation that he was still shaking the man's hand and letting go with a slight blush.

"Hi Peter, I'm Natasha." Peter stammered out a hello and looked simultaneously terrified and awestruck by the diminutive woman standing before him.

"Wow." He breathed, staring for a moment before Tony directed his attention to Thor, the big man was waiting patiently behind Natasha.

"Hello Peter, I am Thor of Asgard." He patted Peter on the shoulder and Peter staggered a little under the force of it.

"My Aunt May loves you." He said in a rush, not noticing the other adults chuckling a little at that as Peter did not seem to quite register what he had said, but Thor beamed.

"Hi, Kid." The man standing beside Thor stated and Peter beamed at him.

"Hawkeye."

"Call me Clint." Hawkeye offered and Peter seemed a little overwhelmed to being told to address so many of _the Avengers_ by their first names.

"This is Bruce," Tony then guided Peter to the small, dark-haired scientist and Peter shook his hand almost as enthusiastically as he had for Cap.

"Dr. Banner!" The others all looked at the boy curiously. "It is such a pleasure to meet you, I've just started studying your radiation theories at school."

"Really?" The scientist looked stunned. "May I ask how old you are?"

"Ten."

"That is very young to be starting such a high level of science, you must be very smart." The doctor sounded impressed and Peter noticed him giving Tony a curious look.

"I'm going to be taking the entrance exams to Midtown, so my teachers have me in a prep class." Peter explained. "My friend Ned is in it, too."

"He is very smart - which is why he comes to help me out in my lab - speaking of which, we're going to head down there for an hour or so. Call us when lunch gets here." Tony deflected before Peter got suspicious outside of being awestruck by meeting the Avengers in a personal setting. Peter said temporary goodbyes to the heroes and followed Tony down the usual route to the lab.

"Did you have fun?"

"I did! Captain America is so muscular, and Thor is so much more handsome in person. I can't wait to tell Aunt May and Uncle Ben about it." Peter gushed, letting out his inner fanboy now he was away from them.

"We can go back up there soon but I was worried you might have a nosebleed if I left you near Black Widow for too long." Tony teased and Peter flapped a hand at him in embarrassment.

The rest of the hour was spent happily working on things in the lab, Peter helping with little insights for Tony with his fresh eyes on things Tony had been working on for weeks and he was absorbing every scrap of information he could. As smart and technologically precocious as he was, he had already come on in leaps and bounds since spending time in Tony's lab and it really touched the man to see it.

F.R.I.D.A.Y. announced that the shawarma had arrived for lunch and the pair headed back upstairs, still in full flow about an upgrade to DUM-E that Peter had been helping on, Tony realising the boy had an aptitude for robotics. They ate with the team and Peter plucked up the courage to ask Captain America to sign an old poster for his uncle before Happy took him home.


	6. Blood Types

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Tony, we have a problem." Pepper walked into his lab and pulled him from his work on Rescue. "May Parker has been on the phone almost hysterical. Apparently, Peter found out Richard is not his biological father."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the only info I could find on blood types is that Tony is A+. The rest I had to make up and as I have only vague recollection of punnet squares (and because I had some surprise minor surgery so a bit brain-fuzzed by pain meds), I used a generator. Any mistakes are entirely my own.
> 
> Tony Stark = A+  
> Mary Fitzpatrick = AB+  
> Peter Parker = AB+  
> Richard Parker = O+  
> May Parker = A-  
> Ben Parker = O+
> 
> Mary & Tony= A+ & AB+, possibilities: A, AB, B (+ or -)  
> 
> 
> Mary & Richard= O+ & AB+, possibilities: A, B (+ or -)  
> 

"Parker! Leeds! Pay attention." Mrs. Harcroft called out and Peter guiltily stopped whispering about meeting the Avengers to Ned as they looked back up to pay attention to her biology class. Normally, Peter loved biology but Mrs. Harcroft seemed to suck all of the joy out of it this year, he really missed last year's teacher who had retired.  
   
"I can't wait until we go to high school and get away from her," Ned whispered as she turned back to the chalkboard.  
   
"All of you should have your parent's details ready as I reminded you yesterday, so start your punnet squares." The teacher said, her back to them.  
   
"Hey, Parker, what's the point in you even doing this, you don't have parents." Flash Thompson snarked from the side in a hiss and Peter flinched, about to retort when Mrs. Harcroft turned around so he could not. How Flash always seemed to manage to time these insults so perfectly to avoid teacher scrutiny he did not know, but it was unnerving.  
   
"Ignore him," Ned reminded and drew Peter's attention back to the punnet square. Ned's was nice and simple, he and both of his parents had the exact same blood type so his was done in record time, Peter though, frowned at his.  
   
"I don't think I'm doing this right..." he whispered to Ned, who also frowned and looked over at his work, Peter rarely did anything even remotely wrong in biology.  
   
"Parker, I warned you once already," Mrs. Harcroft stood over him, the class all looking over to witness this rare event.  
   
"But, Miss, I think I need help with this, I've done something wrong…" panic flooded his eyes as he looked at it, he was sure he had not done something wrong, but he wanted, _needed_ his teacher to point out the flaw in his reasoning.  
   
"Sure, what is your mother's blood type?" She asked.  
   
"AB positive." He replied.  
   
"That side is correct then, and your father?"  
   
"O positive."  
   
"Then this is all correct, Parker, what seems to be the issue?" Realisation dawned on her face as the bell rang, everyone with curious expressions, except Flash who looked positively gleeful and Ned who looked concerned. "Everybody out. Not you, Parker."  
   
"Are you sure you have the correct blood types on here?" she asked in the kindest voice he had ever heard from the woman.  
   
"My aunt told me when I asked yesterday, she is a nurse. She doesn’t know that I know my blood type - AB positive, though, my… my mum told me when I was little in case I ever needed to know and she wasn't there…" he admitted with a little hiccup that soon turned teary and he was glad she had dismissed his peers.  
   
“Can you not ask your mum later, maybe she got it wrong?" Peter stiffened at that line of questioning.  
   
"My… my parents died when I was six." He told her and her usually hard face softened in pity. "I live with my aunt and uncle."  
   
"I see." The woman looked thoughtful. "If you want me to, I can sign you into the nurse's office for the next period, give you time to think."  
   
Peter nodded, he did not want to face everyone else just yet - especially not Flash when he was sporting a tear-stained face. The teacher led the silently crying boy out with him not really registering what was happening and then he was on a bed in the nurse’s office and finally stopped crying, thinking of Richard Parker was giving him chest pains that he had not felt in a long time. He had loved the man dearly and now it seemed like maybe Peter was not actually his son. Had he known? Would his aunt and uncle disown him if they found out they were not actually related to him at all? Was his whole life going to change because of this? He knew he would not be able to stop his curiosity to find out more. What if he had a real father out there somewhere?  
   
Uncle Ben had filled Richard's void as much as he could and Peter thought of the man more as his father figure than Richard, but that was because most of his memories were of Ben, he was too young to remember many things with Richard other than the feeling he got when he thought of him. What if he found his real dad and he got rejected by them as unwanted? Would it be better if he never found him and pretended today had never happened?  
   
The bell rang again to signal the next period and he composed himself and left the nurses office, going to class, ignoring Flash's taunts and sitting beside Ned as usual. Luckily, this was the last class before school ended, so when the final bell rang, Peter shot out of the door and sat himself as far away from where Flash would be as possible. Enduring the ride home as Ned rode a different bus, he got out and looked up at his building, a horrible sick feeling pooling in his stomach.  
 

\---

   
"Tony, we have a problem." Pepper walked into his lab and pulled him from his work on Rescue. "May Parker has been on the phone almost hysterical. Apparently, Peter found out Richard is not his biological father."  
   
"What? How?" Tony's head had snapped up in surprise and he dropped the expensive kit he was holding, DUM-E rolling over to pick up the pieces.  
   
"According to what I could make out from her rantings, they were doing punnet squares for genetic blood types in his biology class and he discerned that Richard could not possibly be his father from it."

"Please tell me you are shitting me and that that poor kid did not find out his father was not who he thought he was in the middle of a fucking bio class." Tony sat back heavily on his chair, the blood receding from his face.  
   
"That appears to be exactly what happened." She confirmed.  
   
"Fuck. Fuck. Fuckity Fuck. Okay. Okay. What does she want us to do?"  
   
"She wants you to tell him." Tony's heart leapt with momentary joy, but he had not wanted his son to find out this way, not this sterile way in such a vulnerable place. Not for his boy, it should have been done differently and he wished he had been allowed to tell him already instead of playing it safe.  
   
"Then we tell him. Get his room started, J.A.R.V.I.S. has the schematics - now he knows, he can stay…if he ever wants to." Tony stated decisively, and Pepper led him to the penthouse where he cleaned up, kissed her and took the file with the DNA evidence from her and set off in his new Audi for Queens; Happy insisting on driving him so he could focus on the news instead of the road as the man was not entirely certain Tony would get there without causing an incident.  
   
Tony surprised him by not leaping out of the car immediately but sitting pensively instead. He knew where they were, he had looked up at the building, but he was counting to ten in his head and settling himself to perform what should have been a much happier task.  
   
Suddenly, he sprang into action, opening the car door and walking with purpose to the elevator, stabbing the floor number required and casually closing the door in someone’s face with the door close button – he did not want an audience for this, especially if they recognised him in the confined space.  
   
The numbers passed by so slowly and then the doors opened and he walked to the door of the Parkers and knocked on it, glad he was the only one in the hallway and the door opened, May Parker, looking harassed appeared before him.  
   
“Come in.” Her voice was terse, but he understood why. “He is in his room. He doesn’t want to talk to us right now.”  
   
“I’ve wanted this moment since the day I found out, but this …”  
   
“I know. He needs some answers though and we said we would let him lead this.” May reminded him and Tony nodded, setting one foot in front of the other and he knocked on Peter’s door. He had never been in his son’s room; their visitation had always been done at the Tower – he was too conspicuous in Queens – so they had limited his coming here to the apartment so no one would get wind of it and going to the papers.  
   
“I don’t want to talk any more, Uncle Ben,” came a small voice through the door and Tony’s heart broke just a little.  
   
“Its Tony, can I come in?”  
   
“Oh. Uh… this… this isn’t the best time, Mr. Stark.” Peter said, his voice confused.  
   
“I know, if you want me to go away, I will.”  
   
“No, you can come in.” The reply came a few seconds later and then the door opened, Peter’s face appearing in the tiny crack and Tony saw the tear tracks still visible on his cheeks.  
   
“Thank you.” A few moments later, the door was closed and Peter was sitting on the bottom bunk, Tony sitting at his desk and he could not help but look around. It was as he might have guessed, if a little more sparse – though the bunk bed was a surprise. He made a mental note to get one for Peter’s new room at the Tower, he assumed it was for storage judging by the filled plastic boxes, but easily turned into a place for the kid’s only friend to stay over sometimes. The Avengers and Star Wars memorabilia lining the walls and shelves made him smile, though the huge Iron Man poster did not warm him as much as it would have any other day – today it might be a bit of an issue for Peter to look at whether he took this well or not and Tony understood May and Ben’s injunctions of delay more than ever before in that moment.  
   
“You know?” Peter asked, his voice smaller than Tony had ever heard it.  
   
“I do. I came because I wanted to help.”  
   
“How?” Peter asked, a little suspicion in his voice that something was going on.

“I found out a few months ago that Richard was not your father. We-”  
   
“So, everyone knew? Aunt May and Uncle Ben knew? Why did no one tell me?” Peter asked, hints of anger seeping in to his face and voice.  
   
“We thought we would tell you in the New Year, give you time to settle yourself first.”  
   
“Settle myself with what?”  
   
“Because…” Tony saw the Darth Vader figurine out of the corner of his eye and swallowed, he did not want Peter to think this was some kind of weird joke or terribly timed movie reference “Because I found out that _I_ am actually your real father, Peter.”  
   
The long silence that followed was uncomfortable to say the least. Peter stared in confusion, then comprehension, switched from looking at Tony to the poster on his wall and back again; then he pitched forward and threw up in his waste paper basket.  
   
“Woah, that was definitely not the reaction I was expecting.” Tony leaped to his feet and sat on the bed beside Peter, rubbing small comforting circles on his back as Peter lost everything in his stomach. Luckily the kid had good aim and it all went into the plastic bag-lined basket.   
   
After some very uncomfortable moments, Peter ceased vomiting and took in a few deep breaths, but he scooted away from Tony and closer to his pillow. Tony took it as a good sign that he was still on the bed with him despite this shock.  
   
“Your Aunt, Uncle, Pepper and I all had a talk, we wanted to tell you - but we thought you needed to get to know me first – in case you didn’t like me or anything like that. We wanted you to be ready and we had decided to tell you in the New Year, all together. I’m sorry you found out this way instead, Peter.” Turned out, this was somehow the hardest thing he ever had had to say.  
   
“I – I can’t be your son, Mr. Stark,” Peter finally spoke, his voice thin.  
   
“Why not, Kid?” Peter flinched at the usual nickname, which tore through Tony’s heart to see.  
   
“Because… because you are a hero, you’re an _Avenger_ and I’m just … me.”  
   
“Peter, ‘just you’ is the brightest, kindest most wonderful child I have ever met. The first time I met you in this apartment, you charmed all of us within seconds. I knew right then and there that I loved you.” Peter’s chin wobbled dangerously and Tony continued. “I’m not great with emotional stuff, but trust me when I say this, I am definitely not disappointed that you are my son, I’m proud.”  
   
“Why?”  
   
“You have something I never did at your age – and I’m pretty sure you got it from your mother, you look just like her, you know.” Peter’s eyes snapped up and searched Tony’s face, it seemed as if in the confusion and revelations about his father he had forgotten the implication here – that Mr. Stark would have known his mother.  
   
“What was my mother like when you knew her?” Peter asked and Tony noticed as the boy shifted back a little closer to him in his eagerness to know more.  
   
“Amazing. She was bright in both brains and personality, the first time I ever met her was in my office after she sent me an email telling me one of my designs had a flaw and I asked her to point it out. I was arrogant, believed my design perfect and she came in and completely slaughtered me.” He smiled in recollection. “From then on, I had her near me as we redesigned the prototype and that is when you were conceived.”  
   
“Did you love her?” Peter asked, curiously and Tony hoped with all his being that the boy knew nothing of his licentious past.   
   
 “I did.” Tony admitted to only the second person how he really felt about Mary Fitzpatrick.  
   
“Why didn’t you get married, then?”

“She had some kind of emergency and left Stark Industries employ, I never saw her again and I had no idea she was pregnant. I only found out about you the night of the Stark Expo.” He admitted.  
   
“And you came to see me.”  
   
“As soon as I was able, I couldn’t wait to meet you.”  
   
“But she never told you about me?”  
   
“No.” Peter looked pensive and then wrinkled his nose.  
   
“I need to empty the bin.” He got off of the bed and picked up his bin and opened the door. May and Ben were lurking in the kitchen and immediately looked around, but Peter walked past them and into the bathroom. He came back and looked up at Tony. “Can I think about it?”  
   
“Think about what, Peter?” He was careful to not call him ‘kid’.  
   
“About everything.” It was a blow, but not an outright rejection and Tony nodded, standing and going to the boy’s desk, writing on a piece of paper and then resting his hand on his small shoulder.  
   
“This is my direct number, just tell J.A.R.V.I.S. it is you calling in and he will patch you through to me – if you ever want to talk to me. Okay?” Peter looked up at him, hesitated for a moment and then took the piece of paper with a nod. Tony said his goodbyes and shut the door, leaving Peter to his alone time to think about the world-changing news he had discovered today and walked over to the Parkers.  
   
“He needs some time.” He admitted.  
   
“What was –” Ben trailed off and gestured to the bathroom.  
   
“He might need a decent breakfast tomorrow. Listen, I gave him my number if he wants to talk, but he wants to think it through himself.”

“Okay. Thank you for coming straight over.” May gave him a weak, strained smile.  
   
“He is my son, I will come if and when he needs me.” Tony saw himself out and got in the car, Happy realising he needed quiet and took him back in silence to Stark Tower. Pepper was sitting at the kitchen counter, sipping one of her fruit teas when he entered.  
   
“How was he?”  
   
“Well, his first reaction to finding out he was my son was to puke so… not the best.”  
   
“Oh, Tony.” She was up, her tea set down and wrapping her arms around him comfortingly before he knew it.  
   
“He says he wants time to think things over – he isn’t speaking to the Parkers either right now.”  
   
“It isn’t a rejection, Tony. He has had a very great shock.” She soothed. “He adores you, he’ll come around.”  
   
“I hope so.”  
   
“I don’t want to find him only to lose him.”  
   
“You won’t, I’m sure of it.” Tony allowed himself a small smile at that, Pepper did not tend to be wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone who celebrates a holiday season at this time of year had a great time! I'm on Pillowfort, should anyone want to follow me there - https://www.pillowfort.io/epistretes


	7. Adjustments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony was not faring too much better over in his own suite, no matter what Pepper tried to distract him with, his mind occupied with wondering what Peter, what his son was thinking and feeling knowing the truth - the whole, messy truth.

Peter had accepted a bowl of soup, but only after his Aunt had left it outside his door; he had not opened it to admit her nor come out when called for dinner. He had stayed in his room and neither his aunt or uncle knew how best to comfort him - it was unlike Peter to dwell on things like this. He usually came to them for comfort or help working through whatever was bothering him and this felt horrible for all involved.

Tony was not faring too much better over in his own suite, no matter what Pepper tried to distract him with, his mind occupied with wondering what Peter, what his _son_ was thinking and feeling knowing the truth - the whole, messy truth.

He truly was a father now, this last hurdle overcome if in a terrible manner, and yet he could do nothing to comfort his son. Had either of them known what the other was going through, it might have afforded both a measure of comfort - to have something in common such as this, an example of nature over nurture.

Peter, for his part, was sitting on his bed and staring listlessly at the poster of Iron Man that he had had up on his wall and had had for as long as he could really remember. He had exalted Iron Man for so long and something just would not compute in his brain. Iron Man was his _father_ , yet he was not. _Tony_ was his father - he liked Tony.

In staring at the poster, letting it burn into his retinas, he thought of something. If he stopped idolising the hero and focused on the man, maybe it would be easier to process. He finally pulled himself from his bed, his muscles creaking in protest as they had been in one attitude for so long and took the poster down carefully. He removed the blu-tack from the back and rolled it up before putting it in his wardrobe for safe keeping. The patch of wall now exposed was a slightly darker shade than the wall around it, a testament to what had been there for so long, protecting it from fading.

Peter went into the drawers at the bottom of the wardrobe and pulled out the photo albums secreted there and he started to put them up over the space, making a collage. There were lots of pictures of him, Ben and May and a few of his parents... or his mother and step-father.

He put them up, a strange feeling in his belly as he did so. He did not want to forget Richard Parker - nor erase him. He might not have been Peter's biological father, but he was still family and Peter had loved him. A picture of Richard holding Peter with Mary looking on happily became the centrepiece. He then stepped back and looked at the sparse but memory-filled wall and decided he wanted more pictures. He went digging around in his room and by the time bedtime rolled around, he had put pictures up that he had taken himself. Many were of Ben and May, but almost as many were of Peter and Ned and a few newer entries were of Peter and Tony.

He went and brushed his teeth, showered and brushed his hair and as he lay down to bed, he thought that there, on display in his room, was his family, with everyone represented.

The next morning, he went in for breakfast and though he was still quiet, he seemed to have a little more of his usual air around him, which heartened his aunt and uncle that he would be able to cope with this shock mentally and they waved him off to the school bus as the adults headed off to work. 

The trip to school was not fun as Flash was on it and Ned was not, but Peter did his best to ignore the taunts, both the usual daily nonsense interspersed with insinuations about his mother. Peter clenched a fist but otherwise showed no outward signs of being bothered, he knew the truth of what really happened and he resisted the urge to throw Iron Man in his face - for two reasons, one was that Flash would never believe him anyway and only use it as a way to "prove" Peter was a liar and two - he had promised Tony... _Dad_? He had promised him, whatever his moniker, so faithfully that he would keep knowledge of their friendship to Ned only.

Not wanting to disappoint Tony became the easiest method of keeping his anger in check and not telling Flash exactly what he thought of the bullying low-life.

The day looked up when Ned was waiting by Peter's locker for him at first, but then a sinking feeling settled into Peter's stomach, looking at his friend's eager face. He would want to know everything and Peter was not really ready sure he wanted to tell - and yet he did not want to lie to his best - and only - friend. Truth evasion seemed the best policy until he himself was really okay with it and ready to let anyone, even Ned, in on his newfound parentage and secret.

"Peter!" Ned beamed and called out to him as soon as he was in earshot.

"Hey, Ned." Peter replied, forcing a little more cheer in to his voice.

"How are you feeling?" Ned asked, only knowing the very basics from class yesterday.

"Okay. I spoke to Aunt May and Uncle Ben and they told me some stuff." Peter looked around to make sure Flash was not eavesdropping. "My punnet square was right. Richard wasn't my Dad, but apparently they all knew and he said he wanted me anyway. My mum met someone else before him. They said they were planning to tell me in the new year."

"I'm sorry," Ned said, looking at a loss for what to say to cheer his friend, his face falling at the confirmation of their fears from the previous day. "Do you know who really is your Dad?"

"Not yet...May has some suspicions." Peter evaded, or so he told himself. Really, he had lied but this was allowed, right? He could keep some stuff to himself while he processed, even from Ned. He was sure Tony would agree.

The bell rang at the opportune moment and Peter gladly changed the subject and the two headed off for homeroom just as Tony was waking across town.

His sleep had been an interrupted one, but that was nothing new to Tony Stark. He rubbed his bleary eyes, noted that Pepper had left him an encouraging note before she had gone off to diligently run his multi-billion dollar company and allowed him the snatches of rest he was able to get.

He walked into the shower and scrubbed himself clean, going through his usual morning ablutions and then tossing on his favourite old Black Sabbath tee shirt and a pair of oil-stained jeans. A cup of coffee and a croissant was grabbed on the way to his lab and he cursed as he stubbed his toe on DUM-E, who was waiting with simulated excitement for his master to come in.

"Stupid machine," Tony grumbled, but petted the robot's claw anyway, it was endearing, even though it was his own code being affectionate towards him, he liked to ignore that fact.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., what have you got for me today?" He asked as he sat in front of his holo screen and finished off his croissant and coffee.

"Ms. Potts needs you to sign the paperwork for the Oscorp sale-"

"Oscorp sale?" He queried, why would he sell anything to that load of crap company? Norman Osborn was one of the most annoying people on the planet and Tony had no time for him at all - or his kid who was, by all accounts, a total brat. Tony liked to ignore the comparisons between Harry Osborn and himself as a pre-teen.

"They have requested to purchase a USCM-160 for distilling purposes in their new project." His A.I. diligently reminded him as he had done three times already over the past few weeks.

"Oh that. Sure. Let them go cook up whatever wacky nonsense they're on this time, but make sure Pep charges them top-dollar. Overprice it up the wazoo just coz I can't stand Osborn's face."

"Ms. Potts is aware of that and pre-empted your request, she has offered it to them on lease only with no ownership and at 1.5 times the usual price and I believe they said they were looking to create something with spider venom."

"This is just one of the reasons I love that woman. Spiders, huh? Wonder what they could be up to - also make sure there is a tracker in there in case they try to hot-foot it with my tech or take it apart and try to steal my designs. Okay, what else?"

"You have a meeting at 1 P.M. with your copyright lawyers over the last of the Hammertech violations that came to light after Justin Hammer was jailed and Ms. Potts has scheduled you in a lunch with her at noon."

"Okay." Tony paused. "Any word from the Parkers?"

"None as yet, Sir." The A.I. paused for a moment. "This could be considered as a no-news-is-good-news scenario."

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. No point worrying unless May is on the phone threatening to castrate me, right?"

"The previous instances of that happening would indicate that to be correct, Sir."

"Right, better get started." Tony set his mind back to the work in front of him. Things with Peter would sort themselves out, he was sure of it and he had no intention of irritating Pepper by not getting his few daily tasks completed when she needed them, though the squeak on DUM-E was annoying... maybe he better look into that...


End file.
